It started when two media outlets ran news stories featuring confidential documents they somehow obtained, either from the NC State Board of Elections (NCSBE) or from the Bladen County Board of Elections (BCBE).

The documents contained PDF images of witness signatures on the backs of absentee ballot envelopes. According to BCBE Director Christopher Williams, G.S. §§ 132-1.2(4), 163-82.10(a), and 163-230.2(a1) prohibit a county from releasing such records “unless the voter signature and any confidential information are redacted.”

Why only 159?

While 1,366 absentee ballots requested in Bladen that election, only 159 of them were leaked to a WSOC-9 television reporter named Joe Bruno, who then posted them and triggered a massive crowd-sourced research project. [Note: VIP loves crowd-sourced research, but not if it comes off a tree bearing poisoned fruit.]

The signatures all belong to people working for McCrae Dowless. None of the remaining 1,207 were leaked.

Legume’s report added more context about the documents by helpfully noting they had been “impounded” and, that witness signatures are “confidential” with public release only allowed after either a “court order or order of the appropriate board of elections as part of [a public] resolution” (See NCGS §163-165.1(e)),